US139220A - Improvement in railroad switches - Google Patents

Description

`c. H. WHITE.

`Railroad Switches.

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CHARLES H. WHITE, OF IVHITE STATION, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD SWITCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 139,220, dated May 20, 1873; application filed April 3,1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. WHITE, of White Station, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan, have invented certain Improvements in Railroad Switches, of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates to improvements in the construction and arrangement ofparts, and particularly in the guard or guiderails, whereby a more simple, accurate, and reliable switch is obtained than heretofore has been in use, and by means of which a train can be moved from any side track to the main track without changing or moving the guiderails, they being moved only when atrain is to be switched from the main to a side track. These improvements consist of guide or guard-rails, made in two parts and jointed 5 also of peculiar blocks and wedges and tongues for securing them to the moving bar; and also in the construction of the bed for the frogs.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a plan view of the switch. Fig. 2 is a cross-section thereof, taken on line :c ac. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view ofthe `joint of the guide-rails showing the wedges or blocks for holding them in place.

The letters a ct represent ties, preferably of iron, upon which the rails b of the main track are secured. cc are ties resting on a bed, d, of wood upon which the parts of the switch are laid. c is thc moving bar, which is connected with its operating-lever f by any suitable mechanism, as, for instance, a toothed rack and pinion. The wood bed upon which the frogs are laid is fitted snugly between the rails b b, as shown in Fig. 2, and is about one-half as thick as the height of the rail. By this means it is necessary to form the frogs only about onehalf as thick as formerly, and this I do, using Bessemer steel, whereby a great saving of metal is effected, besides materially reducing their cost. A A are the frogs, welded or otherwise formed, as just described, and secured over the bed cl on ties c c. Two rails are shown on these frogs, but of course one or more may be made, if desired. g h are the guard orguide-rails, made of two pieces, jointed at c' by a ball and socket or other suitable connection. When I use the ball-and-socket jointand I prefer itI form a recess or socket in the under side of one rail and make the ball or tongue on the other, so as to iit into this socket. The socket and ball each being `of about one-half the thickness of the rails and fitted together, as described, the joint isnot exposed on top. In Figs. 1 and 3 this joint is shown in dotted lines, and in Fig. 2, a crosssection of it is shown. The moving bar c is arranged underneath this joint, and serves also to keep the rails together-that is, from being detached. Tongues lc k and l L are formed on the bar e, the former to receive wedges n, and the latter entering notches in the under side of the rails for securing them, in place. In order to retain the rails firmly in place, and at the same time allow of their free movement on bar c, I provide a block, m, and a sprin g-Wedge, n, which are placed between the tongues or chairs k and the rails. The block fm, is formed with a rounded central lug which fits ina notch in the edge of the rails, and its ends are bev-I.`

eled or inclined from the center outward, "fas shown in Fig. 3. The spring-wedges and iron ties to which I refer are fully described in an application for a patent therefor, `which I have led in the Patent Oiice. The object in beveling the block m is to allow the rail to be freely moved, the center lugon it serving as a fulcrum for this purpose. I prefer to use these wedges also for retaining the other rails and frogs in their chairs, andhave so shown them in the drawing.

The operation is as follows: If the train is on the track b I) at z, and it is desired to switch it onto track l, b, the guide-rails are brought` into the postion shown in the drawing, Fig. 1. Between the guide-rail and the points of the frogs, the distance is but, say, half the revolu tion of a car-wheel, and this fact, in connection with this other, viz., that the guiderails can be adj usted-that is, the switch operatedwithin a width of three-fourths of an inch, whereas it formerly took five inches space, renders it much more reliable than switches in ordinary use.

By my improvements thefollowing great advantages are obtained: The use of the wood bed d allows the frogs to be made more cheaply, as only about one-half as much metal is used. These frogs also, by their conformation, always direct the train from themselves on to the main track, the rails on the frogs being so arranged relatively to each other as to render 2. Thecoinbination of the wood bed d extending across the track from rail to rail, With frogs A, ties c, and bar e, as herein shown and described.

3. The jointed guide-rails secured at the joint to the moving bar, in combination with the block m, and a Wedge, substantially in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

To the above specication of my invention I have signed my name this 26th day of March, A. D. 1873.

C. H. WHITE.

Witnesses:

l W. H. FINoKnL, A. C. BRADLEY.

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